Spotlight's Fade

Part 3

Jem No More?

By Nick Maro

The expected silence from the reporters went on longer than Jerrica had anticipated. Finally the reporters began whispering amongst themselves. Jerrica leaned forward and spoke again. Her voice was still slightly shaky. "N-now I wish to explain wh-why I did this." She turned to Rio for support. He got up on stage and put his arm around her waist. The reporters quieted down and waited.

"I never intended to be Jem this long. It's just something that happened. Jem became my alter ego, the person I could be when I wanted to relax and unwind. She became a security blanket of sorts. The fans also kept me returning to the role of Jem. I just couldn't let them down by quitting. I didn't know that things would go this far. I definitely didn't expect everyone to find out this way. I apologize for leading a double life." Jerrica leaned closer to Rio. "I just hope that my fans do know that every charity event, every autograph session and every appearance I made as Jem was genuine."

Jerrica tried to smile. "I've always tried to be the most honest person I could be, but now I've told you my biggest secret. I am Jem. Jem is me. I'm not sure what lies in the future. I guess I'll leave it up to the fans. If they don't care, I'll continue to be Jem. If this blows up in my face, it's been fun and I love and thank all of my fans, friends and family. Thank you."

Each of the reporters looked at the each other when finally Lindsey Pierce began clapping. At first she was the only one clapping, then slowly the other reporters around her started clapping with her. Slowly the whole group of reporters joined in on the applause. Jerrica hid her smile behind her hands. Tears began to flowing freely down her face. She hugged Rio tightly and each of The Holograms and Misfits who came up on stage to offer their support.

Inside the Starlight House, the Starlight Girls watched the press conference and cheered. Deirdre turned to Ashley and smirked smugly. "I told you she was Jem. What do you think that machine was that we saw? A futuristic washing machine?" Ashley picked up a pillow off the couch and hit Deirdre in the face with it and began giggling.

Eric Raymond sat with The Stingers in his office of Misfits Music that acted as an office for Stingers Sound, where all were in a state of shock. Eric wiped the water from his chin that he had spit out and hoped that Riot wouldn't notice that his back was wet. "I don't believe it. That nutjob of a private dick I'd hired was right. I don't know why I never believed him."

"I don't see how I could've been deceived, Eric." Riot glanced at his manager. "I could get Jem wrapped around my finger, but never Jerrica. Did changing into Jem affect her that much?"

"You're forgetting Riot dear, that Jerrica may have been acting that she was falling for you as Jem," Minx offered in her German laced accent. "She even said that she wanted to keep it a secret. Perhaps it was an act?" She looked at Rapture who curled up on the couch, oblivious to what was going on. "What do you think, Rapture?"

Rapture rubbed her tired eyes and looked at both of her long time friends. She gave them a nasty smirk. "What do I think? I think once again I've been tricked and fooled. I'm constantly being treated like a fucking puppet. Why not once more, eh?" She picked up a bottle of whiskey and took a long drink from it. "Here's another thing I think. I've had it with the both of you. You wouldn't even begin to understand the shit I've gone through."

She walked to the door and opened it. "As of right now, you won't have Phoebe Ashe to kick around. I quit. I'm taking my ball and I'm going home." Rapture slammed the office door and left the three people inside she called friend in another state of shock.

Loud laughter echoed in the office of Kevin Ross. His secretary and Mr. Kite stood outside his office door. They exchanged looks that basically said the same thing. When Kevin Ross laughed like that, they knew that somebody's life was going to be made a living hell.

Deep inside the cave that was used as storage, a forgotten computer booted up. Buttons on the control panel lit up. A silent communication began between the computer and the other that was hundreds of miles away. The communication ended and the computer began talking silently to a far more alien machine. Finally a mechanical voice boomed over the intercom speakers. "Optimus Prime report to storage room alpha-three. Repeat, Optimus Prime report to storage room alpha-three."

Jerrica sat in her office nervous to leave for fear of being ambushed by the reporters that were waiting outside. She was also scared to death of facing her young wards at home. She could always change to look like one of the office workers to get past the reporters, but that wouldn't work with the Starlight Girls. She felt like a hypocrite for telling the girls to always tell the truth while she was lying to them as Jem.

She sighed to herself and looked out the window towards David and Pizzazz's office windows. Pizzazz's light was on and she saw Pizzazz hunched over her desk. Jerrica picked up her phone and dialed Pizzazz's number who answered in a very tired voice. "Hello, Phyllis Gabor speaking. This better be good. You interrupted my crossword puzzle."

Giggling to herself Jerrica cleared her throat. "Hey, it's me." She waved when Pizzazz turned around. She returned Jerrica's wave. "I'm not in the mood to go home right now. I was wondering if you wanted to go grab a drink or something. We could always grab something and take it to your place."

There was a moment of silence as Pizzazz thought about it. "What the hell, why not. Richard is away in Europe right now. He's on some business trip. I could use a night out. Um, how are you going to get out without being ambushed by the reporters? Using Synergy?" She saw Jerrica nod and Pizzazz chuckled to herself. "Just be glad our offices are opposite of each others. Otherwise, I would've never had seen that nod." Jerrica giggled lightly.

"I'll meet you at your office in about ten or fifteen minutes, okay?" This time Jerrica saw Pizzazz give a mock nod to her and she laughed harder. Jerrica smiled to herself. "Hey, Phyllis?"

"Yeah?"

"You're not doing this so you can get back at me somehow, are you?"

Pizzazz let out a loud laugh. "Shit no! You're still injured and healing. I'm waiting till you're healthy again. Once that happens, watch out! Revenge time!" She laughed as evilly as could until she started a coughing fit. "Just get over here. I'll see you in a few."

"Okay, see ya." Jerrica hung up the phone and grabbed her jacket. She instinctively touched a Jem Star earring. "Synergy, I need to look like one of the workers in the building. Also show a hologram of myself running for a taxi." Pink light engulfed Jerrica and she was transformed into a middle aged office woman. She thanked the computer that had become a friend to her and left the building with no problems.

Fumbling with the house key Pizzazz motioned for Jerrica to be quiet. She finally got the key in and unlocked the door. The two women stumbled inside with a giggle. Pizzazz straightened up as best as could and handed Jerrica the unopened bottle of champagne. They walked quietly into the living room and sat on the couch. Air escaped the cushions making it sound like flatulence.

Jerrica and Pizzazz paused and looked at each other and began laughing harder. Pizzazz put a finger to her lips. "Shhh. Shhhh. We have to be quiet. Davey and Kaori are sleeeeping. I don't," Pizzazz giggled, "I don't want to wake them up." She thought a moment listened carefully. "Unless they're already up being naughty." She started laughing hard again.

"May-maybe we should get some glasses for the cha-cha-cha," Jerrica stumbled over the word a few times, "for the booze." She looked over her shoulder and let a small gasp of shock. "Hi Davey," she said playfully, "I hope we didn't wake you or interrupt your playtime." Pizzazz backhanded Jerrica's arm in warning, both women started laughing and fell into each other's arms.

David rolled his eyes and picked up four champagne glasses. He placed them on the coffee table and took the champagne bottle from Jerrica. He popped the cork and poured some champagne into the glasses. The two drunken friends cheered when the cork popped out. Kaori sat on the loveseat and took a glass. David sat next to her and took a glass himself. He smiled at both women. "Now, what are we celebrating?"

Jerrica looked at Pizzazz shrugged. "Let's say the death of Jem. It was a fun while it lasted and it ended far too soon for my tastes." They clinked glasses and Jerrica began laughing again. "Or maybe it's to David and Kaori being naughty upstairs." Pizzazz hit Jerrica's upper arm repeatedly and laughed loudly again. Jerrica managed to set her glass down before falling on her side laughing hysterically.

Kaori shook her head and sipped her champagne. "[They're really drunk off their asses aren't they, David.]"

"[Yes, yes they are. I think this is a good test of your ability to understand English. Are you understanding anything of what they're saying?]"

"[Why do you think I rolled my eyes?]" Kaori sipped the champagne again. "This is good. What kind is it, Phyllis?"

Jerrica looked at Kaori in surprise. "Wow! You speak English!" She gave her a drunken smile and thumbs up. "Good for you!"

Kaori ignored Jerrica and looked at Pizzazz who was looking at the bottle. "Its, ah," Pizzazz said turned the bottle in circles, "it, uh, it doesn't say. Jerrica and I scratched the, uh, the thingy off. The label. We took the label off. Why did we do that again?" Pizzazz looked at Jerrica in confusion. "Oh yeah, because we did it to the other bottles." She turned to Jerrica again and blinked out of sync, "How many bottles did we buy again?" Jerrica held up four fingers. "We drunked three bottles. This is the last one and they were expensive!" She gave David and Kaori a proud, drunken smile.

"I'll go set up a room for Jerrica." David smirked as he stood. "Unless you plan on sleeping on the couch tonight, I mean, they are comfortable." David started laughing when Jerrica looked at him confused. His twin and her former rival both began laughing hard.

Kaori finished her glass of champagne and kissed David on the cheek and cuddled against his side. "[Are they always like this when they're drunk?]" David just shrugged as Kaori smirked evilly. "[I say we wait till they're passed out and then teach them a lesson. What do you think?]"

"[I think it sounds like fun. Besides, this is kinda bringing them closer as friends. So, we shouldn't torment them too much.]" David winked and lay down on the couch. Kaori settled down in front of him and he wrapped his arm around her mid-section. Together they watched the two drunken women laugh and talk into the early morning hours.

The ringing of her phone brought Kimber awake. She reached for where she kept her phone on the nightstand while it recharged. It wasn't there. She sat up as the phone kept its constant ringing. She found it next to her leg under her blanket. She quickly grabbed the phone and answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey Kimber, its David, do me a favor and wake up Mary. There's something here that I think you'll want to see." Kimber could tell from the tone of his voice he had a big grin on his face. "One more thing, bring a camera. See you soon?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. Sure." David hung up before she could question him further. Kimber put on a pair of jeans and found a clean shirt. As an afterthought she grabbed her camera as David suggested. She opened Stormer's door without knocking and shook her best friend awake. "Hey, get up. David just called and he wants us to head to the Gabor Manor. Says there's something we'd want to see there."

Stormer rolled over and looked at the clock, then at Kimber and back at the clock. She pulled the blankets over her head and mumbled. "Go away, Kimber. Whatever it is it'll have to do without me present. I got in an hour ago and I don't want to talk about it. Just that Chip and I had a bad night. I just wanna sleep the day away."

Kimber shrugged and patted her best friend's shoulder. "If wanna talk about it later just ask. I'm bringing my camera anyway. You get some rest and today will be better." She gave Stormer a soft hug from behind and left, closing the bedroom door behind her. She grabbed her car keys from the counter and left the house.

She arrived at the Gabor Manor about ten minutes later. Kimber saw Rio urgently waving her inside and to be quiet. "What's going on, Rio?" she whispered.

"This is too good. You gotta see it to believe it. I see you brought your camera. Good." Rio led Kimber to where Aja, Raya, Shana, Roxy and Jetta stood in a semi-circle around something. She heard them giggling quietly.

The women parted for Kimber when they saw her approach. What she saw made her cover her mouth in amusement. She looked for David and shot him a confused look. The closer she got, the more her suspicions were confirmed. Pizzazz and Jerrica both were on their stomachs lying next to each other. They were passed out on the hardwood floor. The loose ends of their clothing were stretched out and tacked to the floor. Both women were effectively stuck to the floor.

David came up behind Kimber. "Where's Mary?"

"She's asleep and cranky. I'm taking pics for her of this." Kimber took a quick photo. "Might I add this is one for the record book? What the hell happened?"

"Kaori and I decided to teach them both a lesson. They came in here all drunk and loud. Jerrica kept making jokes that Kaori and I were being naughty upstairs." He saw a hint of jealously sweep over Kimber's face. "Anyway, she figured they needed a small lesson in who to get drunk around. I did this once to Eiji. Ask him about it next time he's here."

Kimber gave David an amused smile. "I have to say. It's original. So when are you going to wake them up?"

"I wanted to wait for you and Mary first." David walked up to the two unconscious women and pulled out a capsule of smelling salts. He waved it under both of their noses. They woke with a jerk and looked around. "Well, welcome back to the land of the sober and hungover."

Jerrica and Pizzazz desperately tried to get up, but quickly discovered that they couldn't. Kimber and Roxy both began taking pictures while Pizzazz glared at David. "You better let us up or I'm gonna kick your ass so hard." She looked at Jerrica who was also glaring at David. The rest of the room started chuckling. Pizzazz turned her head to face Jerrica. "We're never gonna live this down are we?" For the first time she saw Jerrica's clothes. "Hey! Is that my top you have on?"

Shortly after Jerrica and The Holograms had left, David called Stormer and told her to come over as soon as she could. Kimber had left with her sister since she wanted to offer as much support as she could to her. Roxy was busy calming Pizzazz down from being tacked to the hardwood floor. Jetta got to know Kaori while David went over a few reports in his office.

A soft knock came from his office door, David heard the door open and then close behind him. Stormer hugged her half brother from behind. He reached back and gave her arm a light squeeze. "Are you okay, Mary?" David asked glancing over his shoulder. "You seem upset or down about something. Anything wrong at home or with Chip?"

Stormer flopped back on a leather chair in the corner of the office. "Nothing tragically wrong, we just had a really bad night. Chip's car broke down in the middle of the highway. Our dinner reservations were cancelled because of said break down. Not to mention that while on our walk after our oh so glamorous dinner at a fast food place, we were almost mugged."

David spun around in his chair and looked at her. Stormer just smiled and waved off his concern. "The self defense moves you taught me helped out. We decided to err on the side of caution and went back to his place. We stayed up way too late watching movies. You have to see his servants. The bots are so incredible and cute. You don't have to get up to get anything." She smirked to herself. "They do anything, but go to the bathroom for you." They both started chuckling.

"Sounds like you had a better time than you thought, huh?" David smiled when Stormer nodded. "I'm glad I was able to help out. Why didn't your ability warn of any of the danger?"

"I'm not sure. I think alcohol weakens it. We had a glass of wine before we left." Stormer scratched her nose. "Well, I did. Chip doesn't drink often."

David straightened up and stretched in his chair. "He sounds like a nice guy the way you talk about him. I can't wait to meet him and see what he's done with Techrat and Clash. But the reason why I called you over is to deal with the backlash from the faked Music Notes special. I'll tell you about in the living room." He slid open the study doors. "I hope Phyllis has calmed down."

"What happened now?"

"Trust me. Rox or Sheila will tell you about it." David waited for Stormer to catch up to him and put his arm around her shoulders. "I found who made the video special, just a matter of proving it and all. We're not home free yet."

Stormer mumbled under her breath and sat on the couch. Roxy and Jetta smiled and waved to her. Pizzazz walked into the room and smacked David on the back of his head as she passed him. David winced in pain and rubbed the back of his head. He winked at Roxy and Jetta who both giggled. Stormer looked confused but remained quiet.

"Okay, now that we're all here. I have some good news. I did some checking on the production company that made the Misfit's Music Notes special. Its some Canadian company that's owned by a paper company who in turn owned by an American textile company." David held up a stack of papers and ran a hand through his hair. "Now, who owns the textile company? Why none other than our good friend Kevin Ross. The trick is to now prove that Ross gave the order to do this special."

David stopped pacing and smirked. "There's more good news. Lindsey Pierce herself is going to conduct her own Music Notes special on The Misfits. You'll be interviewed together and individually by Lindsey. She's also going to interview Jerrica and The Holograms. Just about everyone associated with us currently. Hopefully this will straighten things out with people. I just want you to be honest with her. I mean honest." He smiled. "Okay, what do you think?"

Each of The Misfits looked at other unknowing who should talk first. Finally they all looked at Pizzazz. She stood next to David and gave a quick smile. "David's right. We can't go after Kevin Ross directly. This is going to take time, but he will pay for what he did to us." She began to pace around the room. It helped her think and get her words straight in her head.

"When we do this special, we can't make it out that we suspect that it's Ross behind this. If Lindsey asks you a question about the special, just say you were very shocked that someone could this to you. Just avoid the subject of Ross all together." Pizzazz stopped pacing. "We won't be beaten by Kevin Ross. And this time the bastard will go down and pay for everything he's ever done to us."

"Okay, I'm going to call Lindsey now and tell her everything is on. She told me earlier that the whole thing will take about a week. A couple of days for interviews and then production. She's going to get the special on as soon as she can." David allowed himself another smirk. "Phyllis is right. We won't allow ourselves to be taken advantage of again like this."

The Misfits all smiled and agreed with David. Kaori watched from the top of the rear stairway and smiled as she watched David do his job. She saw how much the band of women cared for him and how he returned it. Deep down she knew she was falling for him and would not let go of him without a fight.

Sitting in her office at home Jerrica took two aspirin for the headache she currently had. She was very relieved that the Starlight Girls welcomed her home with open arms and was not very surprised that a few of the older girls had discovered Synergy. All of the Starlight Girls were happy that Jem did live with them. She even got a phone call from Ba Nee and her father. It was good to hear from her.

Jerrica switched off her desk lamp and made her way to the office door. She was deep in thought about if she should continue as Jem or not. She didn't hear Aja calling her name until she tapped Jerrica on her shoulder. Jerrica jumped and laughed. "Don't do that, Aja. You scared the life outta me. What's up?"

"I was just wondering if you were okay. This whole revealing yourself to the world thing is pretty intense. You wouldn't believe the reporters who were here yesterday. Be glad you did stay at the Gabor's than come here." Aja shook her head in amazement. "If The Misfits don't take care of Harriet Horne, I will. She was calling our band a sham from the start and how she knew we all were big fakes and phonies on the air today. What a crock."

Jerrica stared at her feet for a moment then started up the stairs and stopped. "I've been going over this in my head all day and I have to ask you this. Am I bad person? I mean, I made people happy as Jem. But by keeping my identity a secret, does that make me a bad person?"

Aja smirked and walked up the stairs to the landing that Jerrica stood on. She hugged the woman she loved as a sister. "No. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." She walked with Jerrica up the stairs. "And stop this past tense crap when you talk about Jem. It's not over." She stopped and looked at Jerrica in mild shock. "You haven't seen or heard the reaction you're getting from your fans. One fan said she didn't care who you really were, you'll always be Jem in her eyes. I swear it's a sound byte and plea not to quit."

"You're joking right?" Jerrica asked quietly. Aja shook her head and led her back down the stairs to the entertainment room. Jerrica waited while Aja loaded up a video tape of the fans reactions a local news station broadcasted. She watched the coverage in shock and awe. A few fans were dressed as Jem and a couple as Jerrica.

A smile of joy broke across Jerrica's face to accompany the steady flow of tears that went down her cheeks as she covered her mouth. The coverage cut to reactions from around the music industry. Nearly all of the musicians interviewed said that she had guts to come forward like that. One even pointed out that it wasn't lip syncing due to the fact that it was Jerrica who was singing. She was just in a disguise.

Jerrica let out a small giggle. "Okay. I'm convinced. Jem is not dead. She's just being reborn."

The week went by quickly. Each of The Misfits poured their hearts out to Lindsey and told their version of how they joined the group. Pizzazz went out of her way to speak about Jerrica being Jem and how she was supporting Jerrica despite their past hostilities. Roxy and Jetta insisted on doing their interview together. They held hands and showed mild affection.

Jetta told Lindsey what they did privately was not any of the public's business. But they're not afraid to show their true feelings anymore. Stormer held her interview in her backyard near the bird feeders. She talked about her time in the hospital and some of the events that drove her there. Halfway through the interview, her brother Craig made a surprise appearance. He'd been touring in Europe and didn't hear about the special.

David and Evelyn Gabor did their interview together as well. They each talked about how David became separated and how it affected their lives. Evelyn discussed how proud she was of her children and how she thought of The Misfits as her surrogate children. Part way through their interview, Evelyn left and David brought Kaori in to be interviewed. She talked about her first impression of meeting The Misfits and how she loves being able to know them. She gave a hello to their friends in Japan.

The special was finished and edited. With the interviews of The Misfits fans and their friends the finished product ran for two hours. Lindsey was proud of herself. She felt that the special did The Misfits some justice and that it was her apology for letting the original special air without being previewed first.

The Misfits and their friends once again gathered at the Gabor Manor and watched the special together. At the end of the special, everyone felt like the dark cloud over their lives had been lifted. Pizzazz and David felt like they were vindicated the next day when they saw all of the emails and messages left for them at Misfits Music. David and Pizzazz shared a smile. The first part was finished. The Misfits name was cleared. Next was the harder part of tying Kevin Ross to the original special. That was going to take time and planning.

David was in his office when Kaori entered to get him for their lunch date. She ran to him and hugged him in his chair. She then kissed him tenderly and looked deep into his eyes. "[I've been wanting to tell you this since I watched you talk to The Misfits. I love you, David. I love you for being you.]"

"[I love you too, Kaori, ever since that night in the cave.]" The couple hugged again in David's chair and ordered lunch to be delivered to his office.

Jerrica made a smaller announcement about her decision to resume her role as Jem. She didn't want to take anymore of The Misfit's spotlight than she needed. That turned out to be the best move that she could've done. She was praised for putting her former rivals before her by most of the critics. Her fans as well approved the decision.

David saw the little coverage that Jerrica was getting and called her with a suggestion that both companies would benefit from. He proposed that both bands go on tour together. Jerrica jumped at the idea. The next day Starlight Music and Misfit's Music would do a tour once both bands albums were finished. The reaction they got was very positive.

The night of the announcement Rio pulled Jerrica aside. He was a bit nervous. "Uh, Jerrica, listen. I've been going this over my mind for a long time now." He started biting his finger nails but stopped. "Now that you've revealed that you're Jem, I wanted to ask you something. It's pretty important and I never had the right time to ask. But, uh, shit. I'm too nervous."

Jerrica kissed Rio on the cheek and a smile which gave him his confidence back. He grinned. "Okay, here I go, I've had this rehearsed in my head for weeks and it's not going how I wanted, but screw it. We've been through a lot together and been together a long time. So I, uh," Rio reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. He unsteadily got on one knee before her and blushed as Jerrica did. He opened the box. "Jerrica Benton, be my wife?"

Jerrica wrapped her arms around him and tried to force her tears back so she could answer him. "yes," came the hoarse answer. She let go of his neck and Rio put the engagement ring her finger. She looked at Rio and kissed him deeply letting him know she had been waiting for him to ask.

TO BE CONTINUED IN

INSTRUMENTS OF DESTRUCTION PART 1